What Consumers Are Not Told About Pet Food Ingredients

All laws in the U.S. are public information, except pet food laws. All legal definitions in the U.S. are public information, except in pet food. Unlike with any other consumable product, pet food consumers are provided with no public access to regulations and definitions that involve their pet’s food. What regulatory authorities don’t tell consumers, TruthaboutPetFood.com does tell.

The ingredients used in pet foods and treats each have their own specific definition written by and owned by AAFCO (in cooperation with FDA). Pet food consumers are denied the right to access pet food ingredient definitions through an agreement between FDA and AAFCO (Memorandum of Understanding agreement). Pet food ingredients are NOT the same as human food ingredients. Each pet food ingredient has it’s own definition specific to pet food/animal feed. These definitions are published yearly in the AAFCO Official Publication, cost to consumers $110.00 per year.

It is significant for pet food consumers to understand the following…

There is not one pet food ingredient that is required by its AAFCO/FDA definition to be similar to the same ingredient in human food.

There is not one AAFCO/FDA pet food ingredient definition that requires the ingredient to abide by federal law.

To understand the extreme variations of ‘food’ ingredients that are (illegally) allowed into pet food, consumers need access to ingredient legal definitions. But…again…consumers are denied public access to pet food ingredient definitions.

This is with certainty a violation of Freedom of Information rights for pet food consumers. Until we take this battle into a courtroom – which will happen – consumers still deserve an understanding of what each pet food ingredient means, what each pet food ingredient can include.

TruthaboutPetFood.com has compiled a ‘consumer only‘ list of pet food regulations and definitions, free for all consumers to access and share. These definitions are based on the AAFCO/FDA definitions, though due to AAFCO copyright protection they are not direct quotes.

TruthaboutPetFood.com has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with FDA asking for the complete list of AAFCO pet food rules and ingredient definitions. While we wait for FDA to provide the complete documents or for FDA to deny our request – below is the consumer version of common pet food ingredient definitions…

Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. Association for Truth in Pet Food is a a stakeholder organization representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and with FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click Here to learn more.

Comment6

The document you prepared leaves me slack jawed and horrified, and I think it’s because I’m seeing everything in one place. It is incumbent upon all of us to disseminate your document as far and as wide as possible to pet owners and non-pet owners as well if for no other reason than to illustrate the corruption in the pet food industry and the government. You have done an outstanding job, as usual, Susan, and I cannot thank you enough for your hard work, for your diligence and for your love of animals that we are so privileged to share with you.

The problem is PF consumers can’t believe (or deny) that what’s in a beautifully pictured bag of PF, with fancy labeled ingredients, is STILL sub-standard feed. Either they don’t care, or can’t imagine, how rotting, diseased, decaying carcasses are thrown into the protein refuse heap, for rendering and cooking! Not only is it confirmed in the Guide Susan just published above … but yuck … be sure to read about endotoxins too!

I wish we could convince owners to at least start augmenting their pet’s diet.

For every half cup of real, human edible food, is that much less commercial PF in the bowl. Or the use of a canned PF. Adding a homemade starch means less potentially mycotoxin affected grain, or difficult to digest “pea” starch. (And no it’s not the answer to Grain-Free diets!). I use a little kibble to account for some vitamins/minerals, but add minimally safely cooked whole chicken, turkey or beef (purchased for myself). Some human edible starch. Steamed veggies, fat-free cottage cheese, hardboiled egg, pet kelp. It may not be the perfect meal, or a 100% homemade recipe. But it’s doable, affordable and is very, very easy!

A recent comment (by Dr. Chavez) noted that an exceptionally high meal of all protein, is wasted protein and added expense, because the excess a dog doesn’t require, will just be excreted. So it doesn’t hurt to cut a meal with some energy producing variations. Meaning there’s nothing wrong with safe table scraps which aren’t excessively fatty, salted, sugared, or spiced.

Susan – I read a recent and disturbing blog about natural ingredients and ingredients in general. For example, in the pet food industry hexane derive oil and cold pressed oil are the same when it comes to natural. Apparently, the same is true for human food. Are the people on your list onlybuso g cold pressed oils? Do they provide evidence or support? What about processing aids that do not need to be declared? Technically these would be all human grade or food (vs feed). How do we get to the bottom of all of this? Especially, if I wanted a commercially available food?

That’s not something I am educated on – so it is not a question I ask them. But…any consumer can ask these types of questions of their pet food. And the company should respond and provide sufficient information to the consumer.

On Feb. 6th at the New Jersey Convention Center, Cathleen Enright, PhD., President and CEO of the Pet Food Institute will be a speaker at the inaugural “Food and Treat Festival for Pets”. The description of her talk is:

“Food Safety is Serious Business – Are You Ready?
Pet food and treats are among the most highly regulated food products in the United States at both the federal and state levels, from safety requirements to label claims. What do pet food and treat makers need to know about their obligations? Cathleen Enright, PhD, president and CEO of the Pet Food Institute (PFI), will provide an overview of pet food’s regulatory landscape to help ensure companies are aware of new requirements in place to make safe pet food products for all of America’s pets. PFI is the national trade association of U.S. pet food and treat makers, and its members account for 98 percent of all pet food and treats produced in the United States.”

OK, OK, stop rolling your eyes now…..

Part of the convention is open only to the trade (including the talk) BUT any store owner, pet consultant, researcher or trainer qualifies. Ask if your local pet store would allow you to use their credentials to register you as a “buyer”. I’ve done this in the past for my customers and rescue personnel at SuperZoo.

Otherwise, $10 gets any consumer in between 2pm and 10pm. This is your chance to talk with manufactures and distributors about what consumers want from the industry (and get a taste of what Susan deals with!)

Time to show up in person and make yourself heard! If you can’t attend, consider donating the $10 admission fee to Susan so she can continue to engage the tone deaf “regulatory” agencies.

I’ll be there asking some pointed questions. Anyone wishing to present a block of consumers, reply here and we’ll figure out how to trade email addresses.